Sonya walked down the hall, checking her phone again. She frowned a little at the message on it. The last thing she wanted was a text from Qilin, but she had unfortunately been forced to share the number with the two so-called bodyguards. Up until this point, the woman had refrained from sending her any sort of messages, yet that had changed after their most recent deal. Now it was a constant stream of mostly nonsense ranging from the incomprehensible to the downright unsettling. The most recent message, though, had been far more coherent.

I have something for you. Building D, Basement.

“What did she do now?” Sonya grumbled and turned to Marta. “I hope this play will be worth the headache.”

“As long as her ability isn’t influencing your plans, then I say put up with it,” Marta said patiently at her side. “You had a big win today. The heroes are more united than ever. I even hear that the countries excluded from the event are dealing with protests from civilians and guilds alike.”

Sonya grinned. “The ‘Divines’ numbers shrink once again. Eat shit, Otis.”

“Sonya!” 

Sonya raised her eyebrows and turned back to see Greg running towards her down the hall. He waved a hand over his head before sliding to a stop. “H-hey! Sorry! I’m sure you’re busy, but I’d like a word for just a moment, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Sonya brightened, happy to talk to one of her sponsees and even happier to avoid dealing with Qilin a little longer. “Of course! What can I do for you, dear?”

“I, uh…” He hesitated and then cleared his throat. “There's somewhere I want to go,” he scratched his chin. “Off the books, if you don’t mind.”

Sonya crossed her arms and frowned. “Otis just got into a lot of trouble doing the same, Greg. I won’t have you getting your reputation damaged too if you go and do something-”

Greg squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to cut her off. “The loom knows!” he blurted, his cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment. 

Sonya froze.

Webster KNOWS? What? How? His ability detects ill intent somehow and has a myriad of other features; I don’t even know them all. But he’s been in Russia! I had considered getting him in contact with Otis would- Wait- He’s asking Greg to move somewhere under the radar? Sonya turned away, her brain working a mile a minute. The faint ticking that seemed to come from nowhere began to rise with her increasingly fast thoughts. Does he know I’m Ishtar somehow? Is it just a suspicion of his that he’s angling to confirm? No. If he was moving against me, he wouldn’t make such an obvious move. He was the smartest among us. He kept us alive.

She worked her jaw left and right. War Leader, what are you planning? I need to know. This could be a huge break.

“When?” she asked.

“Two weeks from now,” Greg said.

After I’ve dealt with First Wind.January.

She clicked her tongue. “Fine. I’ll make it happen.”

“Huh?”

Sonya turned to him and put her hands on her hips. “What? Are you surprised? I’m a businesswoman, not a saint.”

“But-”

Sonya shook her head. “I trust the person you got that message from. Send me the location you need to go to, and I’ll make it happen. Go and hear them out. If this can help you somehow, then I want to help you, Greg. Just be safe.”

He brightened and let out a big sigh of relief. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She smiled and gave him a wave. “It’s fine. It’s my job to make your life easier, hero. Go on and enjoy the festivities. I’ll be back.”

He nodded and darted back towards the room with the other judges. Sonya’s hand fell to her side, and she watched the young man’s back. I can’t send Blackrazor to spy on him if it's Webster. I’ll need to think of something else. I hope I’m making the right move here. This is a gamble, but I trust the man you once were, Webster.

“Are you sure about this, ma’am?” Marta asked.

“I need to be. I need every advantage I can get in this long game. Otis is starting to come out of his shell, and I can’t hold him back forever,” she said. “Eventually he’ll go international, and it won’t be potshots and backhanded strikes anymore. I need his weakness. The moment I know, it’s the beginning of the end.”

She turned and started walking. “And the new Heralds?” Marta asked.

“Kera was just the beginning. Otis’ service assignment is the perfect time to test his limits. I’ll put so much pressure on him he’ll have to show me something,” she exhaled. “Now let's see what Qilin wants.”

–

It was something out of a nightmare. Ma was not a stranger to graphic and horrible things, but this was beyond anything he had ever seen before. While he sat on a small, comfortable chair next to one of the most powerful Mythics in the world, the other Representatives all stood in a line, their eyes filled with pain. Something wriggled beneath their skin and restrained every muscle movement. Qilin’s hair. She could control it somehow. He knew she used some sort of invisible thread as a weapon, but he couldn’t have imagined the true nature of it.

His head slowly turned towards the woman, and he looked up at her horns rising straight from her temples to the air. She was playing with her phone, her expression bored despite the agony she was inflicting with barely a thought. She spared me. Was it because I didn’t want to participate in the madness that old woman wanted me to be party to? He exhaled and looked back to the others. Polina, the false Dubois, the practically mute Suo, and two others, whom he barely recalled. So few of us are left from that day in The Hague.

He swallowed and examined the dingy room in Building D. The building was a spare barracks and storage facility for when extra forces were diverted to the Dharan Exclusion Zone. With everyone either inside the zone or celebrating outside, no one would come in here for a long time. It was the perfect place for something like this.

He looked one more time at Qilin, and the woman put her phone down before getting slowly to her feet. She strode towards the center of the room and glanced his way expectantly. He hurriedly got up and made his way to her side. She nodded to the door. “Grovel for your life.”

What? She was serious?

He dropped to his knees and pressed his head against the floor as the door opened. Two sets of footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty room. It sounded like heeled shoes. “Oh, Qilin. What have you done this time?”

CHERNOVNA?!

“They were attempting to sabotage the event. There was no time for more legal recourse. Ma protested the action, so I gave him a chance to plead his case before you,” Qilin said next to him. 

He resisted the urge to look at Qilin. Why is she talking to her like she’s a queen or something?

“Does he know?”

“No.”

“Not a bad present, Qilin. Good work. What’s wrong with them?” Chernovna asked casually. Her tone was so cold. She’d been angry during the confrontation over the sanctions, but this was… bloodthirsty.

“They are currently infested with my hair. They are bound and cannot move nor speak without my permission so long as they remain within my personal domain,” Qilin said lazily.

“They appear to be in pain,” Sonya said.

“It is agony, I am told,” Qilin said, her breaths coming sharper, more excitedly. “Do you… do you like it?”

Qilin is completely insane! Why wasn’t anyone aware of this? How could she have possibly passed the psych evaluation? Ma’s heart sank. Her luck manipulation. There was no hope at all. This is all just bad luck. This whole plan was doomed from the start.

“It’s passable.”

He clenched his fists. Chernovna! How could you possibly be the one holding Qilin’s leash? You aren’t that great. Why should I grovel before-

“Ma.” Sonya said coldly. “Why don’t you tell me everything? From the start, if you wouldn’t mind. Either way, you’re leaving here alive, I can assure you of that. So no need to base your answers on survival. Be honest with me.”

Ma blinked and looked up in confusion at the diminutive woman standing over him and her titan of a maid. She seemed so small but so big at the same time. It was like her very presence was eating at his psyche, making her seem far more threatening than she actually was. He swallowed hard and could feel a faint itch at the back of his mind as the world turned just a tiny bit purple. It was barely noticeable. He felt… like he could be honest here.

“I was contacted by the woman in green before the Liberty War. I was instructed to begin taking steps to bring other representatives into a scheme to put a wedge between you and the Pandora Committee,” Ma said.

“Woman in green?” Sonya asked.

“My grandmother, Song Hui Lan,” Qilin said.

“Ah, I see,” Sonya nodded along. “Please continue.”

He explained everything. The sudden choice to capitalize on Liberty’s assassination. His misgivings about injuring Harbinger and taking advantage of young people. He spilled his guts and then some. “...then Dubois was replaced and-”

“Replaced? He’s right-” Sonya paused, and he watched her eyes grow harder as she stared past him towards where the other representatives were lined up. Her smile grew wide, and she stepped past Ma and Qilin. “Well, well, well, how are you doing this? Your nametag is right, but something feels off now that I take a good look at you. Let’s see what happens with a little decoration.”

Ma turned and watched as Sonya held out her hand, a flower rising from her palm that glowed with a pale white light. That wasn’t her ability. Her ability was her eyes. A sneaking, creeping horror began inching its way up his spine as he started to put the pieces together. The truth. The horrible truth. She slipped the stem of the flower into the man’s hair, and his face changed, his body contorting as his eyes screamed agony. Soon, a dark-haired man who looked to be from Italy or Greece stood there, tears streaming down his face.

“There we go. Nice to meet you, Theo,” Sonya chirped and snapped her hand out to grab his collar. “Oh, I see something shiny here. What’s this?” She ripped his shirt open and revealed a tattoo on his neck, an eye glowing with a golden light. “A golden eye. How theatrical, Mimir!” she sighed with delight. “You’re so cute! Copying my eye thing.”

Ma watched Qilin turn and bow. “Shall I release him so you can interrogate him?”

“No,” Sonya said with a cruel smile on her face. “That won’t be necessary. I made a promise to myself about what I’d do the next time I got my hands on one of his vigilantes.”

Sonya’s fingers glowed violet, and she snapped her hand out, grabbing the man’s face. Even with his body completely restrained, Ma could still hear the screams inside of his chest. It lasted for several minutes before the man finally collapsed in a heap, dead. Sonya lowered her hand and brushed it off. “The vigilantes operate in cells to prevent me from getting intelligence from just one of them. Interesting. One of their members can even do spot memory wipes somehow. There are a lot of details that have been stripped away. You have been busy, Detective.”

Ma was rooted to the spot. Who have we been antagonizing?

“Ma.”

Her voice was like blades on ice. “...Yes?” he croaked.

“I told you, you’re leaving this place alive,” she said without looking at him. She only stared down at the body with an almost relaxed look on her face, like she’d released some kind of frustration. “Now, the question remains: you can leave here without your memories and go about your life. I have a feeling that this green woman of yours is going to cast you aside soon.”

She turned to face him, and her eyes turned into solid color, two beacons of pink light burning in the dimly lit room. “Or, you can work for Ishtar and help me save the world from itself, by any means necessary. Your choice.”

The faint violet tint of the world faded, and his mind cleared. He stumbled once and grabbed the side of his head, blinking in confusion. She used some kind of power to force me to be honest. Then her words hit like a wrecking ball. Sonya Chernovna is Ishtar! They aren’t enemies! They aren’t using one another! They’re the same goddamn person! He looked at her, and she smiled at him. His gut twisted, and he pressed his lips together hard. She could kill him with a thought, but she was giving him a chance to be honest without her influence this time.

He ground his teeth. He could grovel like Qilin said. Sonya, no, Ishtar wasn’t giving him a real choice. She wasn’t wrong; he would be cast aside soon enough. Used as a scapegoat. Even so, there was one thing he had left, and those were his principles. He felt weight pressing down on him as he forced his jaw up. “I won’t-” he forced the words out, “I won’t change masters and commit the same atrocities. If you want me to hurt young people, then I will have to refuse.”

Sonya’s eyes went wide, and the glow vanished. “...Even with the consequences if I leave you to your fate?”

“Damn the consequences. The moment I entered the dark side of politics, I was on my way to hell to begin with,” Ma growled.

Her smile turned so genuine it was like whiplash. She strode over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “I was wrong about you, Ma. You are good people, if a bit harsh. Just the kind of man I need in the Pandora Committee. I won’t ask those kinds of things of you, and I’ll take better care of you than they ever did. This is a promise.”

“...Even after what happened to your daughter?” he asked, startled.

“I seem to recall you mentioning that was someone else's decision,” Sonya said with a chuckle and held out her hand. “How about it? Join the winning team? I just ask that you keep what you know to yourself.”

He glanced at Qilin, who was staring at Sonya’s hand with naked jealousy on her face. He looked down at the hand and took the biggest jump of his life. He took her hand. It was a deal with the devil, but a devil he knew, a devil who respected him, and that was better than an unseen and uncaring master. “It’s a deal, Ishtar.”

She shook his hand and slowly turned her head towards the remaining representatives. “Now, I believe we have a lot to discuss, Polina,” she paused. “Oh, Qilin?”

“Yes?”

“Kill the others.”

“Right away.”